Welcome to Arkansas

We are officially residents of Arkansas - who would've guessed? It is HOT here. We were having unseasonably cool temps in Illinois, and we are having record highs here, with 100% humidity (I don't really know about the humidity, but that is my best guess!). We arrived late tuesday night, but there were tons of people from the church to help unload the u-haul. Kenz was so good for the ride, and even more suprisingly, Greyson was really good too. We have been unpacking and are mostly settled, but are shopping for a cabinet for our tv (I refused to let our old one into the u-haul). Today was our first Sunday, and everything went well. We have a "Meet Matt" party on Wednesday to get connected with some of the kids and their parents (aaaaaaah - more names to learn!). My mom is still with us, which helps out so much. We have gone on a few walks, exploring the area, and enjoying the view. It is really very pretty here - green and lots of rolling HILLS (people here call them mountains, which they aren't, but still pretty). I will post new pictures just as soon as the cable guys come and hook up the internet at our duplex, which will hopefully be VERY soon. Oh,and good news on Mackenzie - she slept through the night last night, on her four month birthday! We were excited, and hope that this might become a habit. :)

Moving Day!

Me and Kenzie taking a break from packing.
Well, it's finally here. It seems so crazy that after months of planning and praying it all comes down to one day where you get into the car and drive 9 hours to the place that will become your new home. We are mostly loaded - all that's left are those last minute things that you never can seem to find a place for. We said goodbye to a few more people yesterday, which is the hardest thing about all this - especially Bryce and Brenda, who are our great friends from college who we have had a blast with over the past year that they have lived here. Kenz is doing great - she has been such a good baby while we have all been packing and running around. I hope she does okay being cooped up in her car seat all day. She is at the age where she get bored if she's in there too long, so we stocked up on lots of toys. If you think of us today, say a prayer for our U-Haul (we have'nt had the best of luck with them in the past), and for the drive. I will update again once we have internet!

Little Cuddle Bug

Kenzie loves to hold things up close to her face and cuddle them. She also has taken to chewing on her blankets - and everything else that comes within an inch of her mouth!

Today was our last day at the church, which was really hard for us - especially Matt. It is amazing the relationships you can develop in two short years. Everyone here has been so supportive and encouraging, which has really made it so much easier for us to make this move, but also harder in some ways. We will always treasure the friendships we made here, and are looking forward to seeing what God has planned for this next part of our lives.

My Amazing Husband

Here is Matt, changing Kenzie's diaper and trying to put her binky in her mouth in the backseat of the car at a yard sale. What a guy.

Mom's Big Find

Update On The Big Move

Greyson has figured out that something strange is going on...
Tomorrow is our last Sunday at the church - it is also graduation Sunday, which might work out well and not put so much focus on us. I hate saying goodbye, and would rather not do it if possible. Matt's parents should get in tomorrow, and we will also pick up the U-Haul tomorrow night. Monday we will load up, and if all goes well, we pull out Tuesday morning.
We think someone looked at our house today, but the realtor didn't leave a card, so we aren't positive. But it did give us an excuse to get out of the house and get to a few more garage sales (Matt thinks we are addicted). Some of our better finds included more summer clothes for Kenz, quite a few shirts for mom and I, a beautiful Easter dress for Kenz next year, and an bobble head of an old guy sitting on a box of prunes farting (see picture above) - we think it might be a collector's item.

Good News!

For anybody that doesn't know, Matt got a call from a church in Arkansas a few weeks before Kenzie was born asking for him to think about coming there to do youth ministry. He initially told them no, that we were happy where we were, but over the next few weeks he began to feel like it was something that we should look in to. So we prayed about it and decided, after about 2 months, that God wants us to make this move. We think this church will be a good fit for us - it is a great church, growing very quickly, and in a community that is also growing like crazy. So next week we are moving - bittersweet, but we have a peace that this is what we are supposed to do.

Which brings me to the good news - our real estate agent called today and said that there is someone who wants to come look at our house tomorrow morning! We aren't getting our hopes up, but this is the FIRST call we've had about the house (it is not a seller's market around here), so it's kind of exciting.

Looks can be decieving - here is our little night owl who was actually up at 9:00, 12:30, 3:30, and 6:00 this morning. Have any tips for getting babies to sleep? It's a good thing she's so darn cute...

Making Progress

We are making progress on packing and finally feel like we might actually be ready to move next week. Today we took everything down off the walls, which is the hardest part of packing for me. Mom took Kenzie's crib apart, and almost squashed Greyson (our cat) in the process, which while it would have been tragic had it actually happened, added some humor to our day. Ironically, Kenz has never even slept in her crib, or in her adorable nursery. We took a break (that lasted all afternoon), and went to some garage sales, a basement rummage sale in a church, and a second hand store. We found all kinds of cute summer clothes for Kenzie, a backpack for Matt, a mug warmer for me, some books for Kenz, and a HUGE bag of clothes for $2 for Jayden (the little boy of some good friends of our's). So I think the break was worth it :). We were planning on hitting some more sales tomorrow, but I think our garage sale budget is gone. So tomorrow should be a more productive day with nothing to distract us (yeah right).

Where's Kenzie?

Daddy got me dressed - can you tell?!

Binkies and Boxes

Kenzie is trying really hard to roll over, but she can't quite get those last few inches. Her binky has proved to be her biggest motivation - it falls out, and she twists and turns trying to get it back in.
Yesterday my mom and I realized that we had exactly one week to pack up the rest of the house. So today, no more playing around! We are getting serious about this! Except for that one little shop we need to go to just one last time...

Dainty Little Girl

Mother's Day

Since mom came in on the train yesterday, Kenz got to spend her first mother's day with both mommy and grandma, which was a special treat for everyone! We went to church and then out to lunch. Since we went to pretty much the nicest restaurant in town, it was really busy, and right away we noticed that our table was actually a card table (without salt, pepper, or sweet 'n low), so everytime we moved or cut our food, the table shook! But despite the setup, we had a great time. Matt and Kenzie gave me a gift card to get some new clothes (yea!), and we all gave mom/grandma Jan Karon's Mitford Cookbook, which we are currently searching for something sweet to bake tonight. :)
This week we are packing, packing, and... packing! But it will be much easier and much more fun with mom here to help (ever packed up a house with a baby? extra arms are a must!). We plan to load up the u-haul next monday and drive on tuesday to a duplex we have never seen before - oh the excitment of being married to a minister!

Little Sleeping Beauty

Matt's New Hobby

Recently Matt has taken up a new hobby - riding his bike to work almost every day. I think it's great, except for the fears I have picturing Matt flying down the several steep hills we have from our house to the church (since most of you know my husband, you know why this scares me!).

Yard Sale Letdown

The yard sale is finally over, and the leftovers donated to some other poor people who will have to figure out what to do with it. Although it was a profitable weekend, Matt and I probably won't be doing that again for a few years. The worst part of the whole thing was Kenz getting a sunburn on her cheeks, which made me feel like the worst mommy ever. Of course, she lived and is looking completely better today.
The church we are leaving had a prayer time and cake for us at their annual cookout, which was very sweet. The countdown is on - only 2 weeks until moving day. I officially packed my first box today - they say starting is the hardest part, right?!
Here is our busy girl trying to play with all her toys at once - she still gets frustrated when she can't quite get the toy into her mouth, but her aim is getting better!

Ready for a walk!

Our New Space

Welcome to my new project! Like I needed a new project between planning a yard sale, attempting to keep our house clean as to not scare off potential buyers, packing (should I be packing yet?), and, oh yeah, trying to keep up with our very "strong willed" extremely active 3 month old. But ever since I discovered blogs a few weeks ago and became an official "mommy blogger," as matt calls me, I have wanted my own blog. Not only will it give me a chance to show off our adorable baby girl :), but it will also give me the chance to catch up and stay connected with all of our scattered family and friends (which seems to be a job hazard, to say the least!). So welcome to our space - I hope you enjoy it!
A side note: due to an overprotective, paranoid mommy, we are trying not to use our full names or disclose our exact location on our page. Thanks!